Hartford Investment Management Co. Trims Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,110 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 873 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $5,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of UPS. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 15,779.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,631,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,994,853,000 after buying an additional 14,539,321 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 833.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after buying an additional 1,851,900 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 1,061.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,772,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $232,959,000 after buying an additional 1,620,091 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,927,607 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,989,609,000 after buying an additional 1,320,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 5,136.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,079,964 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Parcel Service

In other news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 7,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.57, for a total value of $1,015,025.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,249,229.86. This represents a 13.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UPS shares. Baird R W cut shares of United Parcel Service from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.73.

United Parcel Service Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE UPS opened at $114.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.40 and a 12 month high of $158.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.16.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 39.13%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.73%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.45%.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.